Chapter 3: Exams Secret Mission

When you were chosen by the Gods and received your "weapon of the soul", you also gained an ability. These abilities could give you an advantage in battle. 

Ko watches as Evane celebrates being chosen by Goddess Kreta and God Erudi – his weapon silver knuckle dusters that have a metal wire sticking out at the pinky of the weapon. 

Abilities revolved around Mana. 

It was unknown for people to have two abilities – the only named person who had two was the Queen of Entia, Terria. 

But Ko wasn't normal, for he too had two abilities. One that no-one would ever know of. 

His known power was being able to use stored Mana inside himself to boost his overall stats. 

His unknown power that he was afraid of anyone ever knowing was the ability to absorb the Mana of anything, killing it off, and storing it within himself – so his Mana capacity would rise and he would become more powerful. 

This was the curse.

The curse that he WOULD use this time around. He couldn't afford not to. 

Evane moves to stand next to Ko, the smile of victory never leaving his face. 

"Looks like we're both chosen, eh lil dude?" 

Ko nods his head. They both stand and watch the rest of the applicants try their luck.

"Tch, how did HE get accepted by the Gods?"

The shorter teen ignores the whispers behind his back, keeping his grip on the Bo staff in hand. 

"Filthy commoners should just stay in their dumps where they belong."

Evane turns to the sound of the whispering and gives them a sharp stare. They hesitate, looking away in guilt – all but one, who meets the red heads stare. 

His name was Nigelious Zue Zharick. He was the youngest son of the Zharick House, the most respectable of the Four Nobles Houses. 

"You think I'm afraid of the stare of the most mediocre of the Four Noble Houses? As if!" Nigelious was a pompous, lean figure of a man with smartly cut brown hair. He held a épée in his right hand. 

Everyone in the room knew who he was, they also knew not to get on his bad side. 

"Sticking up for a commoner? Are you trying to disgrace your family name even more than it already is?" 

That hit a nerve in Evane, his eyes narrowing at Nigelious dangerously. He turned his body around to face the other noble man, about to walk over to him, but stops as a projection appears above everyone.

"Let's not start fighting now." An elder man appears above them, his long white beard sways about.

In his left hand is a cup of steaming tea.

"Who's that?"

"How is he doing that?"

Some of the people wonder out loud about the mysterious man. Ko just looks up at the familiar beard. 

The elder man chuckles. He waves his right arm about, Mana particles float around.

"This is what you call 'Mana Projection', it's the ability I was gifted with by the Gods. It allows me to project an image of myself anywhere." 

He suddenly vanishes from up above. Everyone's heads turn to look in all directions to see where he went. 

"First, let me say – congratulations for being chosen by the Gods." The elder man's projection appears from behind them, they all turn to face him. "Second, that wasn't the actual exam. This was just to see who would be worthy to take the test."

Noises of confusion echo around the temple room. 

I remember being caught off guard the first time too…

Ko knew this was coming and so he was the only one, other than Natale, to not react to the news of there being another test. Her eyes focused on the older man's projection. 

"There's another trial?!" One person speaks out.

"That's right. The main exam shall begin 4 hours from now." 

The elder man sips his tea. He then stares at the group of applicants before him. "You shall face each other in a 1v1 and demonstrate your ability to adapt." 

"Haaaaaah?!" Almost everyone in the room yelled out in unison.

"We don't even know what our abilities are though?!

"We just got our weapons!" 

It was a normal reaction to have, suddenly being told that you were gonna be put up against one another to show what you were capable of and not even knowing how to fight. But this was the reality of being a Mana Knight – survival. 

"I wish you the best of luck. You've got 4 hours~" The elder mans' projection fades into Mana particles.

Whilst everyone is panicking about what to do, Ko watches as Natale strides out of the temple full confidence in her steps. He turns to Evane, who's not as panicked as most of the others.

"Guess we best get to learning our abilities." 

"You're really calm about this lil dude." 

Ko shrugs his shoulders. He can't very well say 'I've been through this scenario once before', so he starts to walk out the temple with the taller teen following behind him.

"I've learned to not be taken by surprise, I feel it's gonna happen a lot once we become fully fledged Mana Knights."

"I like your confidence in becoming a Mana Knight, I need to step up my game and follow that way of thought." Evane laughs.

As they walk out the temple and towards the gate to the main part of the academy, they're stopped by a shout.

"Don't think you've won this!" Nigelious calls out.

Ko and Evane just wave their hands as a sign of farewell and carry on walking out of the temples garden gates. The duo halt their steps as they get through the gate. They turn to each other.

"I guess this is where we split for a while. I don't wanna be showcasing my moves off to anyone, even you lil dude." Evane puts his fists together, knuckle dusters clanging against one another.

"You're right. Good luck." Ko nods in understanding and the red haired teen smiling down at him.

"Good luck too. May Greta's graces guide you." 

With that they both walked to find a secret spot to start learning their newfound abilities. 

Ko finds a small hill around the back of the academy that looks down over the entirety of the place. He didn't find this place last time, being too panicked at having to learn how to use his Bo staff and what his ability was. 

As he walks up it, he notices a tall broccoli shaped object getting taller and taller. There was an oak tree sat atop of the hill, it's leaves swaying gently in the breeze. 

Once he gets to the top he drops his bag down, rests his Bo staff up against the trunk of the tree and sits down with his legs crossed, back up against the hard wood. 

"I wish I could see this view for all it's worth. I'll have to come back here again some time."

The outlines of the entire area make it look like something out of a sci-fi movie. 

Ko begins to ponder how to spend the next 4 hours. Even though his body was obviously not as in shape as his future self was, he could still remember all the forms of fighting he learnt over the years. So he hoped his body would be able to keep up, even if only a little.

"Even if I have to go back to the basics, I'm sure it'll be fine."

The Bo staff wielder crosses his arms and tilts his head back, his head hitting the trunk of the oak tree with a thunk! 

"What to do, what to do…" He murmurs out loud, but the sound of his stomach growling out does the sound of his voice.

"I guess food comes first." 

With that he rummages through the sack, looking for the food he'd brought from the closest town on his way here. 

"I know for sure I didn't eat it...I think?" 

He pulls out a paper bag with a triumphant "Aha!" and opens it to reveal two rice balls. They're perfectly shaped into triangles with a strip of seaweed in the middle of the bottom. 

Ko salivates at the sight, not realising how hungry he really was. He picks one up and bites into it. On the inside is tuna filling. 

"I forgot how great onigiri tastes. I really need to make these myself when I go on missions." 

They tasted so good that he ate them in three big bites. 

With a happy sigh, Ko stashes the paper back into his hession sack. 

"Now that I'm full, let's see how my Mana is doing." 

Ko turns off Mana Sight and concentrates on the Mana flowing through him. The rice balls had replenished his Mana a small amount.

"Not much huh. I guess I should just keep Mana Sight off for now and see how much Mana I can regain before the battles."

If Ko remembers one thing about this day, it was who his upcoming opponent is going to be. He needed to be as prepared as he could be. One wrong move and he could alter his chances of being accepted into the academy.

"I can't fail." 

So he nods off to sleep…

xxx

The faint smell of lavender was the first thing Ko notices as he slowly regains awareness of his surroundings. He pulls his head up from the weird angle it had fallen to whilst he slept, the sound of his neck cracking pulled out a gasp from a voice that was a short distance away from him.

"Are you finally awake?" 

A soft and velvety voice spoke out in a quiet tone. It took Ko a few moments to realise that this was a voice he recognised well. 

Without turning his Mana Sight on, he turned his head sharply to the sound of the voice. Of course he couldn't see anything, but he knew who was there. 

The female that sat a short distance away wore a light blue flowery dress, her knees tucked into her body and her chin resting on top. Black socks and black shoes on her feet. Her hand sweeps back the azure hair that covers her face and places it over her ear, brilliant diamond eyes gleam in the sun. She wears black ear warmers around her ears, the material made of fleece. 

This was a new event for Ko. He hadn't met this girl until later on originally. Was this a sign? If so, he would take this opportunity he was given. 

 "Hello?"

Ko moves to sit up, scratching his neck and giving the girl an awkward smile.

"Are you talking to me?" 

She tilts her head, her eyes locking onto the bandana around Ko's eyes. Holding her hand over her mouth she lets out an 'oh' of acknowledgement.

"My apologies, I thought maybe you were wearing the bandana over your eyes to block out the sun so you could nap. I didn't think…" She trails off as Ko waves his right hand about.

"Nah, it's fine, I'm used to it." 

It was a lie, he wasn't used to it at all, but it was something he was going to have to deal with from now on. 

The girl looks Ko up and down, then looks down at the scenery below. Her hair blows gently in the wind.

"The view from up here makes everything seem so small, so insignificant."

Her eyes widen immediately after she speaks, looking at Ko and shaking her hands about frantically.

"I'm sorry! That was inconsiderate of me to say, baring the fact that you can't see it." 

The blind teen shakes his head with a smile, he'd forgotten how to smile like this. Near the end of the war, all smiles had permanently turned into frowns as one by one, he lost his comrades. The only smiles he knew now were fake. Forced. 

It was a smile he was going to use a lot.

"No worries, I may not be able to see like everyone else can, but I won't let that hinder me." 

The azure haired girl smiles gently, she turns to look back over to the scenery below.

"That's a good way to look at things. Don't let your misfortunes dictate your life, live it the way you want." 

Ko tilts his head up.

Don't let your misfortunes dictate your life huh? I'll remember that.

He looks down to where his hands would be, opening and closing the palms.

"So, are you also someone who passed the initial exam?" She turns to face Ko again, noticing the Bo staff laying up against the tree next to him. "Oh, you've also been chosen by the Gods?" 

"That's right. I guess I'll be the blind warrior huh? Kinda got a cool ring to it." Ko laughs wryly.

"I think…" The girl begins, struggling to find the words to say, she presses on, "if you were chosen by the Gods, then it was for a reason." 

Ko turns to the girl in wonder. Chosen for a reason? Did the Gods choose people specifically? He wasn't sure how to respond to that. If he'd been chosen for a reason, did that mean everything that's happened was supposed to? 

Ko didn't want to believe that.

"I wonder if everyone has uncovered their abilities yet?" The girl leans back against the tree trunk, extending her legs out and looking up to the bright blue sky.

"Some probably have a sixth sense for these things. What about you?" 

The girl clutches a talisman in her right hand – it's shape is a circle, the outer rim being black and the inner being white, engraved with letters of an unknown language. It sparkles in the sun.

"I'm not sure my ability is useful."

Ko looks at the girl with a bewildered expression – or, he's imaging it in his mind that he is. 

If your ability is useless then what's mine?!

He knew her ability was much more impressive than she believes. Maybe she's just not realised it yet? 

"No ability is useless, you just need to learn how to bring out the best of it." 

She hums in reply, not saying anything else. They sit in comfortable silence for a while...

"By the way, are we near the 4 hour mark yet?" Ko wonders how long he'd been asleep for. 

The girl digs her right hand into her dress pocket and fishes out a small pocket watch – its silver shine is carved with intricate designs of an unknown language. She clicks the button atop the circular device and it opens. 

"It's 3:48pm currently. I don't remember what time the 4 hours started though, I'm sorry." 

She closes her pocket watch and tucks it back into her dress pocket. 

"I might be wrong, but I believe we have 12 minutes to get back to the Exam Area." 

As Ko speaks out, the reality of their situation clicks into place. They were about a 15 minute walk away from said place. 

The girl turns to Ko with a nervous expression.

"Are we...going to be late?" 

Without hesitation, Ko activates Mana Sight and jumps to hit feet. He grabs his Bo staff and sack, swinging the latter around his shoulder. He looks down to the azure haired girl who's looking up at him with curiosity. Finally being able to see her, outline wise, he can't help a small smile forming on his lips.

He extends his hand out for her to grab.

"If we go now, we should make it." 

She wavers for a moment before grasping his hand in her own. The shorter teen pulls her up onto her feet – they stand at the same height, Ko realises happily.

I suddenly don't feel so small.

They let go of each others hand, the azure haired girl brushing her dress down, then turning to look at Ko, that soft smile curving her mouth.

"Shall we?" She turns and takes a step down the hill before halting and spinning back around – her dress fluttering about. "Oh I almost forgot. My name is Selstie Von Sacra, it's nice to meet you." 

Her blinding smile warps into a blood stained frown, the blood flowing out the corners of her mouth and dripping down her chin...The blood that drips onto the floor ripples into an image of the girls uniform clad body sprawled atop a pile of other corpses, eyes that once shone brightly now lustreless and faded. Dead. 

"Hello?"

Her voice brings Ko back from his dark thoughts. He shakes his head, his hair whooshing left and right. Selstie giggles at the sight. 

"Sorry, I got lost in thought for a second."

The girl just smiles at him. Her smile dazzles Ko so much that his mind goes blank. 

He forgot how important that smiles was to him.

A smile that he would protect this time.

I'll save you no matter what. I promise.